Peek Inside This WashU Sophomore’s Cozy, Boho Dorm Filled with Handmade Wall Art

Amanda Lee (@mandy.k.lee on TikTok), a sophomore biology major at Washington University in St. Louis, hadn’t seen her 85-square-foot room (a single within a suite) before moving in, but she knew she was going to have much more wall space to work with than she’d had freshman year. So, she got to work making her own wall art to fill up the blank space: collages, watercolors, and plenty of photos now help her space completely reflect her personal style. 

How did you find this space? I attend Washington University in St. Louis and live in a suite-style dorm. Since I live within driving distance, I bought everything ahead of time and brought it with me. That meant planning my entire space before ever seeing the room in person, which was definitely a challenge.

How did you feel about your space before seeing it? Before I moved into my dorm, I knew what would be included in my room (a twin-size bed, a desk, a dresser, and a small side table), and I had a good idea about how I wanted to arrange my furniture based on what I did freshman year. I knew that I wanted to loft my bed frame to maximize my space and was planning on reusing the under-the-bed storage I used last year since I knew it was functional and fit perfectly under the given bed frame. I also reused my bedding and all of the additional furniture I bought previously.

The main additions I made to my space this year were my wall decorations. Compared with freshman year (when I was in a double), I knew this year I would have significantly more wall space of my own to decorate. I honestly didn’t plan much in advance in terms of placement, but instead prioritized creating pieces that worked well with each other and fit my overall room vibe. I figured that their actual placement would come to me once I had a physical space to work with, which it did. 

How do you feel now after making the space your own? When I initially stepped into my dorm, I was really happy with the size of the room and how much potential it had. Walking into a dorm room for the first time feels like approaching a blank slate — apart from the given furniture, the space is yours to manipulate and use as a reflection of your own style. I started with the more practical tasks: I arranged the furniture how I wanted and then set up the already established aspects of the room (my bedding, side table, lamp, ottoman, closet storage, etc.). After that, I started thinking about my wall decor. It took a couple different iterations, a couple nights of me “sleeping on it,” and a TON of outside opinions from friends/suitemates, but in the end I’m very satisfied with how everything turned out and believe that my dorm is largely reflective of my personal style. 

What is your room best known for? My dorm room is a comfortable place for me to unwind after long days of classes and studying. I try to do most of my work (studying) on campus, so I exclusively associate my room with relaxation. It’s truly just a place for me to spend some alone time and recharge.

My common room on the other hand is more of a social spot. My suitemates and I love to lounge around in our pajamas just chitchatting and updating each other on our lives. We also enjoy having friends over to hang out. We’ve spent countless hours in our common room sharing a bite to eat, watching movies, painting our nails, or just laughing and reminiscing.

What is your personal style? My personal home style is definitely bohemian with an emphasis on earthy tones and a variety of different textures. While my essentials remain simple, I like to accessorize my space with DIY decor and TONS of photos of my friends and family.

What’s your favorite element of your space? My favorite elements of the space are probably my bed and side table — I’m very happy with how everything looks together. The colors and textures of my comforter, pillows, and throw blanket create a cohesive, bohemian ambience, and I love how the items on my side table make my space feel more personalized. I’m also quite fond of how my lamp introduces warm light into the space, making it feel even more inviting.

Where do you get your inspiration? I looked for inspiration on Pinterest and TikTok and used color/texture combinations that I knew would work. Since I was able to bring a car full of dorm stuff, I brought more wall and desk decorations than I knew needed and used the extras to decorate my suite common room. 

What’s your proudest DIY hack? ​​Most of the wall decor in my individual room and in my suite common room was made by me. While each piece plays an important role in making the space feel like home, I would say that I’m proudest of the watercolor collages that are currently displayed in our common room. I was really into watercolor painting this past summer, so I decided to make personalized wall art for myself and each of my three suitemates. I reached out to them for some inspiration in terms of what elements they would want me to include and took the rest from there. The frames were about $10 each from HomeGoods, and I already had the rest of the supplies. With on-and-off work, this project took about a month for me to complete.

What was your biggest challenge in decorating your space? Since I live within driving distance of my university, I decided to buy everything for my dorm room beforehand and take it to school. This introduced the problem of having to plan out every element of my space before even getting to see the room itself. At times I definitely struggled with knowing what to buy and exactly how it would contribute to the space.

What should people remember when decorating their spaces? When planning your dorm room, it is SO important to maximize your space. Dorms are inherently small and hard to work with, so it’s essential to be strategic and plan accordingly. In my experience, if an additional piece of furniture doesn’t contribute to your dorm room’s storage potential, it’s really only taking up valuable floor space. This is why one of my biggest recommendations is to think carefully about the additional pieces of furniture you buy and prioritize items that can also be used for storage/organization. For instance, if you want a bedside table, get one with drawers or shelves to put things in. Or, if you need an ottoman to get onto your lofted bed, buy one with internal storage space. Ottomans are also great because they can be used as seats for guests!

I’m also a big advocate for lofting your bed (if you can) for the same reason. Raising your bed maximizes hidden storage space without compromising your room’s aesthetic. Just underneath my own twin-size bed I’m able to fit my dresser, suitcases, and extra storage bins with space to spare! And by using a bed skirt or full-size comforter, you can easily conceal any clutter.

This submission’s responses were edited for length and clarity.

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